I'd like to make my dnd game space into a dungeon, dragon's lair, wizard's lab or any other wicked looking fantasy setup. I want to get some lights, props, backdrops, etc., to create a magical mood for the game.
Would love to hear suggestions or links to sites about ways to decorate my dnd space for in-person games. Thanks for replies!
Sounds like a fun project, and potentially an expensive one. I guess it really depends on what sort of space you are working with, what tools you have available to you and your budget.
Personally I would start looking at Youtube vids of other peoples gaming spaces, depending on your budget these might be a more aspirational thing rather than something that is realistically feasible but generally these can be a good place to get inspiration and ideas
Depends on how far you are willing to go, do you have any skill with woodworking or are you willing to build foam props (plenty of tutorials for foam props on youtube that are accessible for beginners)? Or did you just want to buy some pre-built props to scatter around the room?
Lots of good tutorials on Youtube for making things out of resin and foam, etsy is a good place for pre-made props, lots of lighting stores feature some exotic lamps and even coloured cloth over a light source can make for good mood lighting. Op shops can be a good place for materials and cheap furniture that you can customize without worrying too much about screwing it up.
I think a tavern setting would be the easiest but wizards lab and dungeon are still quite doable, Viking mead hall or royal banquet table are other options, war room or commanders tent, really up to you.
There are a lot of suggestions I could make but the post could get pretty long, do you have a rough idea of the sort of budget you want to spend? photos of the room you are converting and what sort of skills and tools you have access to?
@agentgrey Thanks for the link! I'm not spending big money. Trying to keep it under $100. I bought a cool tablecloth and a fantasy backdrop. I'd like to have colored lights, like dark purples, green and blues.
@agentgrey Thanks for the link! I'm not spending big money. Trying to keep it under $100. I bought a cool tablecloth and a fantasy backdrop. I'd like to have colored lights, like dark purples, green and blues.
Ah ok, Atmoseeker has some pretty good videos for this sort of thing
The LED candles seem like a good cost effective way to provide some mood lighting. I know a lot of the thrift shops in my area sell plaster props of skulls and dragons and such and wizard orbs for pondering, pretty sure it is all cheaply made Chinese stuff but will do the trick. And if you want to have more of a medieval taverny feel you could always get some wooden beer steins to serve beverages in.
Also doesn't hurt to look in some craft stores, can usually find bottles and stoppers for craft purposes, fill it with water and dye for some faux potions, and it is always a good idea to check your local op shops, never know what you will find.
I'd like to make my dnd game space into a dungeon, dragon's lair, wizard's lab or any other wicked looking fantasy setup. I want to get some lights, props, backdrops, etc., to create a magical mood for the game.
Would love to hear suggestions or links to sites about ways to decorate my dnd space for in-person games. Thanks for replies!
Thats a cool idea! I love to make arts and crafts, and too decorate my space so here are some ideas.
Dungeon:
Torch: Create or purchase medieval style torch with a light. These can be purchase and created easily. To create these, simple get a pvp pipe, paper towel cardboard inside, or anything that is a cylinder. Next, you can get led lights. Try to stick with a Red or orange for fire, and for magic fire use purple and green. Attack the led lights, (3 per torch) to the top of the cylinder, but the batteries inside the hollow part of the cylinder, or attack the battery packs to the back. Now you can get red and orange colored celephone, tissues, or construction paper, and tape it with transparent tap on the top of the torch to hide the LEDs. This will be a very cool torch which you can find a way to attack to your wall.
Chests: Adding a couple chests to the room can make it very interesting. You can purchase these online, or go as simple as using cardboard to fashion your chest, or cover a box with cardboard, and then paint it. You will have to take time to paint it well, but it will be amazing in the end.
Floors, doors, and windows: You can cover your doors with cardboard, and paint it to look like a medieval thick door. You can cover your windows with cardboard, and paint on a stone texture, bars into a cell, or another rooms. And you could play on a stone floor(if that is available to you) These things will add allot more detail and interest, but you may not be able to, due to time constraints, as this takes a while. Also it is a hassle to take down, so you can either leave it up and live with it for the rest of your life, or take it down every time.
Treasure: You can purchase or craft coins and treasure to lay in a corner of the room. To make coins just cut out cardboard circles and paint them a gold yellow color. You will need to cut out TONS of them to get a nice pile size. To make treasure like a magic sword, you will need pvc pipe, cardboard, scissors, duct tape and paint. You can come up with a custom designing yourself or look up a nice video. Placing these items in the corner of your room will make the dungeon feel really real!
Wizards Lab:
Torches: Repeat the torch process above but this time use blue and green colors instead of red and orange.
Chests: Repeat the chest processes above, but paint silver detailes, and runic symbols.
Floors, Doors, and Windows: Simply repeat the same thing above, but on the window, paint outdoor scenery, or the night sky. For wizards it should always have the hint of a mysterious evening, before the sun has completely set over a dark blue horizon.
Magic Books, and Wizards equipment: If you want a Wizards lab, its a good idea to have some wizards items. What I like to do is to start with the wizards books. You can find a big book in your house, like a dictionary, and you can measure how wide and long the cover is. Then you can make a cardboard cutout, the height of the book plus 1 inch tall, and the width of the book (opened and layed on the ground pages down) wide plus one inch. Tape the cover to the books cover temporarily. You can color the cardboard to make it look nice and wizardry. For wizards equipment, you can make, or purchase a staff. Next you can decorate your staff, such as gluing a rock to the tip like a crystal. You can put the staff near the book to make it look cool. For more equipment just brainstorm, and think what a wizard might have, material components are easy, just grab some grass, root, bits of vegetables, rock, ect and they can be laid out to look like material components.
Witches Lair:
Torches: Repeat the above, but use Purple and grey, or purple and green colors.
Chests: Repeat like the dungeon. The dungeon chests should be fine for the witches lair.
Floors: Repeat like the dungeon, but on the windows paint scenery of a bog, or a cell, or a forest swamp.
Witches Items: For the Witches items, you can but prop mice, gold, and treasure around the room. You might want to put down fake spiderwebs here and there.
So there you have it! That is my guide for your request! Enjoy and have fun!
@among Thanks for the ideas! I like the make your own suggestions (saves money). I'm leaning toward a wizard lab but some kind of magical portal room, with a few black light posters or tarps with magical symbols on them. I'd like to get some blue and purple lights too.
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I'd like to make my dnd game space into a dungeon, dragon's lair, wizard's lab or any other wicked looking fantasy setup. I want to get some lights, props, backdrops, etc., to create a magical mood for the game.
Would love to hear suggestions or links to sites about ways to decorate my dnd space for in-person games. Thanks for replies!
Sounds like a fun project, and potentially an expensive one. I guess it really depends on what sort of space you are working with, what tools you have available to you and your budget.
Personally I would start looking at Youtube vids of other peoples gaming spaces, depending on your budget these might be a more aspirational thing rather than something that is realistically feasible but generally these can be a good place to get inspiration and ideas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAUfngq89cg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqOTGRRc27Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfbZ_CcyxyI
Depends on how far you are willing to go, do you have any skill with woodworking or are you willing to build foam props (plenty of tutorials for foam props on youtube that are accessible for beginners)? Or did you just want to buy some pre-built props to scatter around the room?
Lots of good tutorials on Youtube for making things out of resin and foam, etsy is a good place for pre-made props, lots of lighting stores feature some exotic lamps and even coloured cloth over a light source can make for good mood lighting. Op shops can be a good place for materials and cheap furniture that you can customize without worrying too much about screwing it up.
I think a tavern setting would be the easiest but wizards lab and dungeon are still quite doable, Viking mead hall or royal banquet table are other options, war room or commanders tent, really up to you.
There are a lot of suggestions I could make but the post could get pretty long, do you have a rough idea of the sort of budget you want to spend? photos of the room you are converting and what sort of skills and tools you have access to?
Just some simple ideas to get you started
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ru0OIpbH70
@agentgrey Thanks for the link! I'm not spending big money. Trying to keep it under $100. I bought a cool tablecloth and a fantasy backdrop. I'd like to have colored lights, like dark purples, green and blues.
Ah ok, Atmoseeker has some pretty good videos for this sort of thing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJGtD0NtHkI
The LED candles seem like a good cost effective way to provide some mood lighting. I know a lot of the thrift shops in my area sell plaster props of skulls and dragons and such and wizard orbs for pondering, pretty sure it is all cheaply made Chinese stuff but will do the trick. And if you want to have more of a medieval taverny feel you could always get some wooden beer steins to serve beverages in.
Also doesn't hurt to look in some craft stores, can usually find bottles and stoppers for craft purposes, fill it with water and dye for some faux potions, and it is always a good idea to check your local op shops, never know what you will find.
Some in general ideas - https://www.extraspace.com/blog/home-organization/diy-projects/game-room-ideas-for-the-ultimate-entertaining-space/
these are some good videos to start from ! like it .. very informative
Tutuapp 9Apps Showbox
that's a cool idea. you can search on YouTube, because there are many such tips that not only tell, but also show
I’ve used candles to help immerse players into their characters
Thats a cool idea! I love to make arts and crafts, and too decorate my space so here are some ideas.
Dungeon:
Torch: Create or purchase medieval style torch with a light. These can be purchase and created easily. To create these, simple get a pvp pipe, paper towel cardboard inside, or anything that is a cylinder. Next, you can get led lights. Try to stick with a Red or orange for fire, and for magic fire use purple and green. Attack the led lights, (3 per torch) to the top of the cylinder, but the batteries inside the hollow part of the cylinder, or attack the battery packs to the back. Now you can get red and orange colored celephone, tissues, or construction paper, and tape it with transparent tap on the top of the torch to hide the LEDs. This will be a very cool torch which you can find a way to attack to your wall.
Chests: Adding a couple chests to the room can make it very interesting. You can purchase these online, or go as simple as using cardboard to fashion your chest, or cover a box with cardboard, and then paint it. You will have to take time to paint it well, but it will be amazing in the end.
Floors, doors, and windows: You can cover your doors with cardboard, and paint it to look like a medieval thick door. You can cover your windows with cardboard, and paint on a stone texture, bars into a cell, or another rooms. And you could play on a stone floor(if that is available to you) These things will add allot more detail and interest, but you may not be able to, due to time constraints, as this takes a while. Also it is a hassle to take down, so you can either leave it up and live with it for the rest of your life, or take it down every time.
Treasure: You can purchase or craft coins and treasure to lay in a corner of the room. To make coins just cut out cardboard circles and paint them a gold yellow color. You will need to cut out TONS of them to get a nice pile size. To make treasure like a magic sword, you will need pvc pipe, cardboard, scissors, duct tape and paint. You can come up with a custom designing yourself or look up a nice video. Placing these items in the corner of your room will make the dungeon feel really real!
Wizards Lab:
Torches: Repeat the torch process above but this time use blue and green colors instead of red and orange.
Chests: Repeat the chest processes above, but paint silver detailes, and runic symbols.
Floors, Doors, and Windows: Simply repeat the same thing above, but on the window, paint outdoor scenery, or the night sky. For wizards it should always have the hint of a mysterious evening, before the sun has completely set over a dark blue horizon.
Magic Books, and Wizards equipment: If you want a Wizards lab, its a good idea to have some wizards items. What I like to do is to start with the wizards books. You can find a big book in your house, like a dictionary, and you can measure how wide and long the cover is. Then you can make a cardboard cutout, the height of the book plus 1 inch tall, and the width of the book (opened and layed on the ground pages down) wide plus one inch. Tape the cover to the books cover temporarily. You can color the cardboard to make it look nice and wizardry. For wizards equipment, you can make, or purchase a staff. Next you can decorate your staff, such as gluing a rock to the tip like a crystal. You can put the staff near the book to make it look cool. For more equipment just brainstorm, and think what a wizard might have, material components are easy, just grab some grass, root, bits of vegetables, rock, ect and they can be laid out to look like material components.
Witches Lair:
Torches: Repeat the above, but use Purple and grey, or purple and green colors.
Chests: Repeat like the dungeon. The dungeon chests should be fine for the witches lair.
Floors: Repeat like the dungeon, but on the windows paint scenery of a bog, or a cell, or a forest swamp.
Witches Items: For the Witches items, you can but prop mice, gold, and treasure around the room. You might want to put down fake spiderwebs here and there.
So there you have it! That is my guide for your request! Enjoy and have fun!
@among Thanks for the ideas! I like the make your own suggestions (saves money). I'm leaning toward a wizard lab but some kind of magical portal room, with a few black light posters or tarps with magical symbols on them. I'd like to get some blue and purple lights too.